Bicycles and the Bottom Line
Recognition of how bicycles can economically benefit a neighborhood, city, and region unintentionally wove a thread through the agenda of the May 17 BAC subcommittee I attended.
Neighborhood level
As Lesley wrote in an April blog posting, BAC members who attended the annual bike summit in Washington DC earlier this year were fired up about Long Beach California’s bicycle friendly business district.
The idea continued to gain traction at the May 17 meeting, as the subcommittee passed a motion to further explore the idea here in Minneapolis.
That means the committee will take the idea to the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) group, to help fully bake the plan, find funding partners, and turn the idea into a reality. It was hoped that CPED could attend this subcommittee meeting, but were not able to attend.
Nick Mason of Bicycle Alliance of MN shared the upside to such a project, noting that it has relatively low start up costs for the amount of publicity, sales, and goodwill that it generates. It also gives businesses the opportunity to embrace and become champions for bicycling.
City level: open streets in North Minneapolis
There is a movement to bring the Lyndale Avenue Open Streets concept to the north side of town. But it appears that getting city permits to block traffic, get police support etc., can be a cumbersome impediment to getting the idea off the ground.
The committee is proposing an alternate permit process on a pilot basis, and hopes to try it as they prepare for this event, tentatively scheduled for September 29 on Lowry Avenue. However the alternative permitting idea was tabled until the June subcommittee meeting, when experts would be on hand to help the group more fully understand the permitting issues, because the pilot project would likely need city council approval.
City level: convention center
Jeff Johnson, the executive director of the Minneapolis Convention Center also attended the meeting. He shared their idea to tout cycling as an option for convention visitors (a NiceRide station sits right outside the center). Bicycles would get convention visitors out of the skyway system, allowing them to access larger portions of the city by bike.
State level
A collaboration of Minnesota organizations (including Explore Minnesota, HealthPartners, and the DNR) are pitching our state's cycling reputation as means for drawing more tourism, and coincides with May as national bike month. Take a look at their polished pedal mn website.
Electric-assist pedicabs
During the recent legislative session, a law was clarified to allow electric assist pedicabs to operate on roadways, and a pedi-cab advocate joined the meeting to discuss the matter.
This law previously classified pedicabs as mopeds, which disallowed them from using bike lanes. According to the guest, pedicabs use a combination of pedal and electric power, average 12-15 mph, and the power cuts out at 20 mph. He was there to ask the committee for their support in updating the Minneapolis City ordinance to match the new state ordinance. The committee agreed and moved the topic forward for hearing at the full BAC meeting.
Bike/Walk/Move study
Hillary Reeves and Sarah Kretman-Stewart presented results from the Bike Walk Move media campaign in North Minneapolis and the Kingfield neighborhood. The campaign measured survey residents before and after the campaign, and the results revealed the challenges in changing behavior and converting nonbikers to bikers. There are three stages to changing behavior: 1. Awareness (aware of the possibilities), 2. Consideration (consider the possibility) and Implementation (changing behavior). By moving the community towards the first step, actual behavior change may be more likely in the future.
Once-in-a-Generation Chance to Transform Washington Avenue
Washington Avenue is set to be fully reconstructed in 2014, from building to building, between Hennepin Avenue and 5th Avenue South. The project, sponsored by Hennepin County, provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign and rebalance the street. Washington Avenue should serve as a gateway to the river and to downtown, supporting the new residential, office and commercial uses that have been springing up for the last decade. But today it is a seven lane thoroughfare cutting through the heart of downtown.
Transforming Washington
By reducing the number of traffic lanes to five, Washington Avenue could include generous sidewalk space, greenery and a curb-separated bicycle lane (sometimes known as “cycletrack”) on each side.
A five-lane Washington Avenue could include a sidewalk, two rows of trees, a curb-separated bicycle lane and a median/turn lane. (Graphic by Matthew Thompson)
This design would dramatically reduce the distance pedestrians would need to cross to get from one side of the street to the other, making it easier to walk in the heart of downtown. It would provide a connection for bicyclists of all types and skill levels and create a safe bicycle connection from Nicollet Mall (which dead-ends into Washington) to the riverfront.
What about Traffic?
Washington Avenue currently carries about 21,000 vehicles per day in the six lanes plus center turn lane. There is an existing two-way pair (3rd Street S and 4th Street S) just one block from Washington with an additional three lanes of traffic in each direction that each only carry 9,000 - 12,000 vehicles per day, according to MnDOT. They provide a strong alternative to Washington Avenue because 3rd and 4th are both one-way streets that can offer a wave of green lights to reduce congestion. Today, 3rd Street provides direct access to Hwy 394, and in a few years 4th Street will provide direct access to 35W.
There are also two big changes coming that will alleviate traffic congestion on Washington Avenue:
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A $13 million project to build a new freeway on-ramp from 4th Street South to northbound 35W to reduce congestion on Washington Avenue -
Retiming of all traffic signals in the City, which will help make traffic move more efficiently
Washington is a Missing Connection
Even with the uninviting conditions, hundreds of people already bike on Washington Avenue, which is lined with small businesses and an increasing number of residential and office destinations. There is an existing bike lane one block north, on 2nd Street, but it does not connect to points west or east and does not provide access to the destinations on Washington.
The Big Picture
The goal of our proposal is to create a balanced environment on Washington that serves drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, residents, employees, and visitors well. Most of all, we want to make Washington Avenue, and the blocks that border it, a great place to live, work, and visit. With added trees and green space, a better pedestrian environment, and a bicycle facility, Washington Avenue will better support Downtown’s vision for growth. The Downtown 2025 Plan sets the goal of doubling Downtown’s population. This will only be feasible if Downtown continues to transform itself into a place where people want to live.
From Vision to Reality
We have done outreach to downtown organizations and neighborhood groups and have gotten mixed reactions to the proposals. Some people love the idea of making downtown more pedestrian friendly and particularly like the idea of greening. Others are concerned about slowing down car trips. For these changes to become reality, strong support is needed not only from the bicycling community but from downtown residents, businesses and visitors.
We need volunteers to reach out, build support and find out more as the project develops. Email [email protected] to get involved!
Watch for news of public meetings for this project this summer.
